WASHINGTON—Fifty years ago Wednesday, Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his "I Have a Dream" speech from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in the nation's capital. The speech was a rousing call to arms that bolstered the growing civil rights movement, and many argue it helped lead to major legislation passed by Congress a few years later.

Here are 10 photos from that day, Aug. 28, 1963:

Thousands gather at the Washington Monument grounds on Aug. 28, 1963 before marching to the Lincoln Memorial. ((AP Photo))

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FILE - President John F. Kennedy stands with a group of leaders of the March on Washington on Aug. 28, 2013 at the White House. From left are Whitney Young, National Urban League; Martin Luther King Jr., Southern Christian Leadership Conference; John Lewis, Student Non-violent Coordinating Committee; Rabbi Joachim Prinz, American Jewish Congress; Dr. Eugene P. Donnaly, National Council of Churches; A. Philip Randolph, AFL-CIO vice president; Kennedy; Walter Reuther, United Auto Workers; Vice-President Johnson, rear, and Roy Wilkins, NAACP. ((AP Photo))

FILE - Martin Luther King Jr., center left with arms raised, marches along Constitution Avenue with other civil rights protestors carrying placards, from the Washington Monument to the Lincoln Memorial during the March on Washington on Aug. 28, 1963. ((AP Photo))

FILE - The Washington Monument and a U.S. flag are reflected in the sunglasses of Austin Clinton Brown, 9, of Gainesville, Ga., as he joins others in the March on Washington on Aug. 28, 1963. ((AP Photo))